Design Policies

Last Update: March 12th, 2024

MyRec.com provides design services for all client services. A Public Design consists of a custom banner, receipt/email banner, and background image, all professionally designed using the department’s specifications/requests; and a matching color set to display on the public site. Any reference to Public Design in this document refers to this collection of design elements.

Design services must be requested by submitting the MyRec.com Design Request Form. Design materials (photos, logos, etc) sent via email will not be accepted. By submitting the form, you agree to the terms outlined in this document. 

Design Request Form

Design Management

Public designs can be implemented in one of the following ways:

Designed & Managed by MyRec.com

  • The department will have the MyRec.com Design Specialist at their disposal to collaborate on a customized design that effectively communicates the department’s mission, vision, and personality.
  • All graphical elements will be professionally designed by the Design Specialist, ensuring they are aesthetically pleasing and WCAG 2.0 compliant.
  • The Design Specialist will manage uploading and applying all custom pieces.
  • The department will not have access to this area, but may reach out to the Design Specialist to discuss revisions.
  • This option is recommended.

Designed by Client & Managed by MyRec.com

  • The department or organization may design their own graphical elements, either with a professional designer or on their own.
  • The MyRec.com Design Specialist will provide appropriate design specifications and answer questions about those specifications.
  • The department may upload or modify their banner at any time, at no additional cost.
  • The department will not have access to change site colors, but may reach out to the Design Specialist to discuss modifications.

Designed & Managed by Client

  • The client will have full control over their site’s design.
  • They may design their own graphics, either with a professional designer or on their own.
  • They will also have access to modify all site colors at any time, as many times as they choose.
    • This option requires a signature on the MyRec.com Accessibility Waiver to ensure the client is aware of WCAG guidelines and accepts responsibility for implementing them according to law.
  • Upon receipt of the signed document, the Design Specialist will apply the appropriate permissions and alert the department that those changes have been completed.
  • The client is responsible for managing their own design; MyRec.com staff will be entirely hands-off.

If you are interested in designing and managing your own design, please contact design@myrec.com to discuss the Accessibility Waiver information and receive the agreement form.

Pricing & Fees

As stated above, every new MyRec.com site includes a free design consultation and professional public design, created by the Design Specialist. The department may request a new professional public design at any time, with costs incurring as follows:

  • No previous custom public design: Included. *
  • Current custom public design is three years old or more: Included. *
  • Current custom public design is less than three years old: Department will be invoiced for a $100 redesign fee upon final design approval.

* Additional charges may be added during the design process. Please refer to the Revisions section below. Clients will be notified in writing before any work is done that results in added fees.

Revisions

MyRec.com reserves the right to determine what constitutes a minor or major revision. The general guidelines for differentiating follows.

Minor Revisions

Small revisions to a custom-designed banner are always included at no cost, as they are a natural part of the design process. These may include, but are not limited to:

  • Swapping a photo/logo for another
  • Font changes
  • Color changes
  • Copy edits
  • Moving the location of a photo, logo, or text

Major Revisions

Major edits constitute anything that requires the designer to overhaul the majority of an existing design. We understand that projects can evolve, so up to 3 major revisions are included in a public design project. MyRec.com reserves the right to bill the client for an additional hourly fee if the project faces four or more major edits. The designer will communicate with the client if their project is approaching this threshold.

Ongoing Revisions

If the client requests a minor change to their public design after it has been finalized, MyRec.com’s Design Specialist will be happy to make those adjustments at no cost. These may include:

  • Swapping old logo/marketing material for a new version
  • Changing text
  • Updating site color scheme

Requests that go beyond what constitutes a minor change will be considered a redesign, and the client will be billed accordingly.

Photos & Artwork

The client is expected to submit photos and images they own the rights to use. This does NOT include artwork from Google Images, paid stock websites, or independent photographers; these images are often copyrighted and not available for free use. MyRec.com will not be held responsible for any litigation brought forward due to copyright infringement or intellectual property theft.

Fonts

At this time, MyRec.com does not accept custom font files. This is due to potential issues related to licensing and file management. If a department has strict branding rules, an exception may be made if the requested font is open source and part of the Google Fonts library. The Design Specialist reserves the right to grant exceptions on a case-by-case basis, and if an exception is allowed, the department will be limited to one font change – MyRec.com's development team will not swap out different fonts unless the department wishes to return to the default font (Open Sans). The public side formatting (size, spacing, color, etc) will not be modified to accommodate custom fonts. For proofing purposes, the Design Specialist can provide mock-ups showing up to three different fonts if requested.

File Storage

MyRec.com will only keep files for the most recent design iteration. Once a client provides written approval of a new custom design, the previous artwork and associated files will be deleted. If requested, old files can be sent to the client before deletion.

If a client overrides their custom design in any way (choosing one of our basic theme options, uploading their own banner, changing colors), the design specialist is able to revert those changes back to the most recent approved design iteration. The designer cannot guarantee when they will be able to push those changes.

WCAG / ADA Compliance

The public side of the MyRec.com software is WCAG 2.0 compliant. When a department chooses to have their design managed by MyRec.com, the colors and graphical elements will always be WCAG 2.0 compliant. By requesting the ability to manage their own color palette, the department accepts total responsibility for complaints, litigation, or any other legal action brought forward due to non-compliant color contrast levels. 

All departments, regardless of how their public design is managed, do have the ability to modify text colors and sizes within many areas of the public side using an included text editor. These areas include program descriptions, home page message, home page photos, and others. The department is responsible for maintaining WCAG standards for font styles, sizes, and colors in these editable areas. MyRec.com is not responsible for litigation brought forward based on ADA or WCAG violations that rise from text editor modifications made by the department, regardless of how their website colors are managed.

The department is expected to accurately caption or tag all images, especially images that display text. Every area in the software that allows image uploads will require a caption, and the department is responsible for filling those captions with any text that may be visible in an image, or to provide context for the image's contents. MyRec.com is not responsible for litigation brought forward based on ADA or WCAG violations related to improper captioning or tagging. For instructions on how to properly caption images, please view our How to Caption an Image article.

Please refer to the Terms of Use for more information.

Conclusion

For additional information and clarification, don't hesitate to contact us. Please contact Hannah Bearup, MyRec.com Design Specialist at hannah@myrec.com with any questions or concerns about these policies.